Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Getting Started

Q: How do I start placing my online order?

A: The easiest way is just to click the 'Photo Centre' link on our main web page. This will take you through to a page where you can then 'Use Bulk Uploader' to bulk select and upload dozens of images. If you can't see the 'Use Bulk Uploader' link, it's because you don't have Adobe's flash player installed on your system - please either read the FAQ item about this below, or you can use a simple but slightly slower 'failsafe' method of uploading images in batches of five.

Q: Can I upload from my Mac / Linux PC?

A: Yes! Just go direct to our website and click the 'Photo Centre' link on our main web page. If your Mac / Linux system has Adobe’s Flash 8 (or later) installed, you’ll be able to upload using our integrated bulk uploader system. You can select dozens of images in one go, and then watch as they are uploaded from within the same simple web page – so there’s no need to install anything on to your computer.

If you don’t have Flash support on your Mac / Linux PC, you can still upload your photos – the system automatically goes back to a failsafe method so you can select and upload your images in batches of five at a time.

Q: How long should it take to upload my photos?

A: The upload time is dependent on your internet connection speed, and the size of photos you want to upload. If you have a slow internet connection, large file sizes or just lots and lots of photos this will take a while – please just make a cup of tea and enjoy watching your computer working away for you.

Q: What web browser should I use?

A: The Web Kiosk will work with a variety of different web browsers. However, for the best possible browsing experience, please make sure you are using the latest available version of the browser. Best of all is 'Firefox', a freely available browser suitable for Mac, PC and Linux. It is much faster and more secure than Internet explorer, and easier to use. It is available from www.Mozilla.com

Order Processing - FAQs

Q: I was expecting an email from you and it hasn’t arrived. Where is it?

A: There are two very common reasons for this:

Your email program may have mistakenly classified it as spam because you’ve not written to us before or added us to your address book. Please check it’s not just sitting in your spam folder.

You mistyped your email address when placing the order. Yes, no-one ever thinks they would have done this, but it is very common in cases of missing email. Please just phone the warehouse where you placed your order and they’ll be happy to advise you on your order’s status – and tell you exactly what spelling of email address you supplied. It would help if you have the date and time (and ideally the order ID) of your order available when you call.

Q: Help - I've made a mistake and now need to modify / cancel the order I have just placed. What should I do?

A: If the order is placed after 5pm, and you've only just placed the order, this won't be a problem - please just email the warehouse where you placed your order explaining the problem and we'll be happy to help.

We try to reply to emails as promptly as possible - but we also print orders as promptly as possible, so please email us ASAP or there's a strong chance we'll have already printed your work.

Q: I've received an email from you talking about a possible 'Copyright issue'. What does this mean?

A: UK law requires us to make reasonable efforts to ensure we don't print work in contravention of a photographer's copyright. Once we have suitable confirmation that this isn't the case, and your work will be printed as normal.

If you are a professional photographer and regularly print work with us, you might want to discuss this issue with our lab staff and perhaps leave a letter on file confirming this.

The Process of Uploading

Q: Can I upload from my Mac / Linux PC?

A: Yes! Just go direct to our website and click the 'Photo Centre' link on our main web page. If your Mac / Linux system has Adobe’s Flash 8 (or later) installed, you’ll be able to upload using our integrated bulk uploader system. You can select dozens of images in one go, and then watch as they are uploaded from within the same simple web page – so there’s no need to install anything on to your computer.

If you don’t have Flash support on your Mac / Linux PC, you can still upload your photos – the system automatically goes back to a failsafe method so you can select and upload your images in batches of five at a time.

Q: Ok, I understand that – but just how fast can I expect transfers to be?

A: This really depends on the speed of your internet connection – dial up is possible (but very slow), 512kbs broadband is reasonable, but 1Mbs or greater is ideal. Remember that your upload and download speeds are different – your ISP allows you to download data faster than they allow you to send it.

Q: I sometimes have problems with uploading - the upload starts but then goes slow or stops altogether.

The things you can do to avoid problems are:

Avoid using wireless networks - they are notoriously unreliable if wireless reception is marginal or temporarily interupted.

Do an independent test of your broadband connection - can you stream audio/video without interuption? Whilst your internet connection might work on everyday web browsing, if it (or your internet service provider) is having problems these are much more likely to be noticed when uploading or downloading large quantities of data.

Make sure you've got correct (and working) ADSL filters on every socket of your telephone system. Even just one telephone plugged into your broadband line without a filter can make a huge difference to the stability of your internet connection. You can often ask BT to run tests and offer advice on this if you wish.